Turkey roaster review
As I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago, to solve my single oven colliding with Thanksgiving dinner conundrum, I decided to invest in a turkey roaster. I have now cooked two turkeys in it, so thought I would share how it all worked out.
I have to say, I think it is a pretty nifty kitchen tool, but I'm glad I cooked a practice turkey in it first, and didn't save its maiden run for the actual holiday.
I cooked two turkeys because I wanted to test out the roaster, but also because I knew there would be very few leftovers, and we all love eating turkey sandwiches with cranberry-orange relish the next couple of days afterwards. In fact, some family members think the whole reason to have Thanksgiving is to create leftover turkey sandwiches. I knew I needed extra turkey. I also wanted to make the gravy ahead of time, and not after the turkey was cooked, right before we sat down. I was able to to use the pan drippings from the first turkey for the gravy. I had meant to make the gravy the day before, but ended up making it in the early afternoon. Either way, it was far easier than right before dinner.
The first turkey was small, at just ten pounds. The directions said it would take two to three hours to cook, so I got the turkey all ready, put it in the pre-heated roaster, and set a timer for two hours later. Here's my first tip. Even though the direction state that you should not open the lid to check the turkey... open the lid to check the turkey. This poor little bird was a bit over done by the time I checked. It wasn't ruined, just a bit over done. Just fine for sandwiches and gravy, so all was not lost. On the big day, when I cooked the twenty pound turkey, I started testing it well before the time it said it would be done, and I'm glad I did. I full hour before dinner, the thermometer was reading the correct temperature. The turkey roaster is fast.
My only quibble with it is, while the skin gets brown, it doesn't get quite as crispy as it would if it had roasted in the oven. Some instructions I read suggested taking the turkey out of the roaster and crisping the skin in the oven at the end of the cooking time. This seemed like a lot more work than it was worth.
There is one more thing that I discovered about the roaster that I really love. We had the very large carcass from the turkey, and I didn't want to throw it out, because I wanted to make stock with it. Since it was so large, it was going to be difficult to store to cook later. I looked at the roaster, figured it was already dirty from having the cooked the turkey initially, so dumped everything back in, added some vegetables, filled it with water, and let it cook all night and well into the next day. It made some pretty amazing turkey stock... about 36 cups of it. I have some in the refrigerator for soup this week, and two bags of stock in the freezer for later meals. It was far easier than having to fuss with a pot on the stove.
I'm glad I purchased it. If I had two ovens, I would probably just use those, but since I don't it is a very handy tool. It's even better since I created a home for it in my new china pantry, so I'm not tripping over it sitting around the kitchen.
I have to say, I think it is a pretty nifty kitchen tool, but I'm glad I cooked a practice turkey in it first, and didn't save its maiden run for the actual holiday.
I cooked two turkeys because I wanted to test out the roaster, but also because I knew there would be very few leftovers, and we all love eating turkey sandwiches with cranberry-orange relish the next couple of days afterwards. In fact, some family members think the whole reason to have Thanksgiving is to create leftover turkey sandwiches. I knew I needed extra turkey. I also wanted to make the gravy ahead of time, and not after the turkey was cooked, right before we sat down. I was able to to use the pan drippings from the first turkey for the gravy. I had meant to make the gravy the day before, but ended up making it in the early afternoon. Either way, it was far easier than right before dinner.
The first turkey was small, at just ten pounds. The directions said it would take two to three hours to cook, so I got the turkey all ready, put it in the pre-heated roaster, and set a timer for two hours later. Here's my first tip. Even though the direction state that you should not open the lid to check the turkey... open the lid to check the turkey. This poor little bird was a bit over done by the time I checked. It wasn't ruined, just a bit over done. Just fine for sandwiches and gravy, so all was not lost. On the big day, when I cooked the twenty pound turkey, I started testing it well before the time it said it would be done, and I'm glad I did. I full hour before dinner, the thermometer was reading the correct temperature. The turkey roaster is fast.
My only quibble with it is, while the skin gets brown, it doesn't get quite as crispy as it would if it had roasted in the oven. Some instructions I read suggested taking the turkey out of the roaster and crisping the skin in the oven at the end of the cooking time. This seemed like a lot more work than it was worth.
There is one more thing that I discovered about the roaster that I really love. We had the very large carcass from the turkey, and I didn't want to throw it out, because I wanted to make stock with it. Since it was so large, it was going to be difficult to store to cook later. I looked at the roaster, figured it was already dirty from having the cooked the turkey initially, so dumped everything back in, added some vegetables, filled it with water, and let it cook all night and well into the next day. It made some pretty amazing turkey stock... about 36 cups of it. I have some in the refrigerator for soup this week, and two bags of stock in the freezer for later meals. It was far easier than having to fuss with a pot on the stove.
I'm glad I purchased it. If I had two ovens, I would probably just use those, but since I don't it is a very handy tool. It's even better since I created a home for it in my new china pantry, so I'm not tripping over it sitting around the kitchen.
Comments
Sharon